EC, bureaucracy functioning at BJP’s behest: Akhilesh

In several assembly constituencies, individuals had been registered multiple times - some with three, four, five or even 10 entries, alleges SP chief

LUCKNOW Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused the Election Commission and the bureaucracy of functioning at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, claiming that many people have multiple entries in the voter list and constitutional institutions were being manipulated to suit the ruling party’s agenda.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav speaking to journalists on Monday. (Sourced)

Speaking to journalists after offering floral tributes at the statue of Ram Manohar Lohia in Gomti Nagar on the occasion of the socialist leader’s death anniversary, Yadav said the government was not operating in accordance with the Constitution and that the country’s democracy and Constitution were under threat. “The BJP poses a crisis for the nation, this crisis will only be resolved when the BJP is removed from power,” he asserted.

The SP chief alleged that the poll panel’s attitude and actions were discriminatory, claiming the commission had effectively nullified the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process for electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh. A fresh voter registration drive was now underway, discarding the earlier SIR exercise on which crores of rupees had been spent and for which the entire administration had been mobilised after extensive publicity, he added.

Despite the SIR process being intended to curb fake votes, Yadav said lakhs of fraudulent entries had appeared in the electoral rolls. In several assembly constituencies, individuals had been registered multiple times - some with three, four, five or even 10 entries. He specifically cited the Azamgarh Sadar assembly constituency, where a single individual named Vikas Yadav reportedly had 10 entries. “One vote will be cast by the actual Vikas Yadav, while BJP operatives will cast the remaining nine,” he alleged, adding that lakhs of such fake entries had been created.

The Kannauj MP also claimed that the chief minister had asked the commission to increase the vote count by 200 at every polling booth.

He further alleged that in the Sarojini Nagar area of Lucknow, the BJP had filled 100 forms using the forged signature of a man named Dashrath in an attempt to delete Samajwadi Party votes from the rolls. Though socialists exposed the matter, the Election Commission took no action against anyone. “The BJP government is complicit in creating fake votes,” Yadav alleged, adding that it wanted only its members’ names on the voter list.

Asserting that the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) was vigilant and united, Akhilesh Yadav said the SP was poised to form the government after the assembly elections. He maintained that the public and party workers would not allow the BJP’s alleged fraudulent tactics to succeed.

He accused the BJP government of administrative authoritarianism and anarchy, claiming journalists and protesters were subjected to inhumane treatment, with female journalists particularly mistreated.